President Bill Clinton
May 29, 1998
CLINTON: Thank you very much, Commissioner, and
congratulations on your new position as a superintendent of the
Chicago police. Mayor White, thank you as always for your
astounding leadership. Madam Attorney General, thank you for
faithfully and vigorously pursuing the partnership with law
enforcement we did talk about so long ago now.
Mr. Vice President, thank you for all you have done to make
this a safer country. And I'd like to thank all the mayors, the
police
officers who are here, and say a special word of welcome to
Congressman Cummings for his presence and for his support.
Let me say -- just before I came out here, I received word
that a few moments ago, Senator Barry Goldwater passed away at
the age of 89.
He was truly an American original. I never knew anybody
quite like him.
As all of you know, we were of different parties and often
different philosophies, but in the last several years, he was
uncommonly kind to me and to Hillary and I had occasions to
visit with and I always came away -- every time I met him, from
the first time back when I was a senior in college, until the
last time just a couple of years ago -- with the impression that
he was a great patriot and a truly find human being.
So our prayers will be with his wife and his family today.
And our gratitude for his life of service to our country is
very, very strong.
As you have heard, our country's made a lot of progress in
the fight against crime in the last few years. We've made a lot
of progress on a lot of areas.
We just announced that we would have a budget surplus this
year for the first time since 1969. We have the lowest
unemployment rate since 1970, the lowest inflation rate in over
30 years, the lowest welfare rolls in 27 years and, of course,
the lowest crime rates in a quarter century.
All of these things are a great tribute to the
American people in their communities, working at their lives.
When I took office, I determined to make the federal government
a genuine partner in building a better future for the American
people everywhere.
And it seemed to me that we could never do that unless we had
a sensible strategy to make people feel safer in their streets.
It is very difficult to feel like you're living in a free
country as a free citizen if you don't feel safe walking the
streets, if you don't think your children are safe when they're
walking the streets or in the park or going to school, if you
don't even feel safe in your own home.
So we have worked on the strategy that has been outlined by
the previous speakers. I'd like to emphasize especially the
work that was done to give law enforcement officers the tools to
do the job. The community policing program put 100,000 more
police on the street and the effort to enlist ordinary citizens
in the work of helping police to prevent crime and to solve
crimes and to give them the tools to do the job.
Now, this all shows that whether it's the crime, the budget
deficit, welfare reform, home ownership, anything, any challenge
this country faces, we can only solve it if we work together.
But when we do work together, we invariably make progress,
sometimes astonishing progress.
The principal behind community policing in a way is the
principal behind everything we've tried to do domestically. It
embodies the concept of working together -- to get more police
out of the station houses, out from behind the desks, onto the
streets, working with people, in the ways that Superintendent
Hillard just outlined.
We pledged to put 100,000 police on the street in
the campaign of '92 and then in 1993 and the budget. Finally,
in the crime bill in '94, we succeeded in getting that
commitment enacted into law. We knew it would be a long-term
effort and we said we would try to achieve it in six years.
Now, we have reached a milestone. In only four years, we
have now funded 75,000 of that 100,000 community police. We're
ahead of schedule on the thing that is doing the most to make
America a safer place, thanks to those of you in law
enforcement.
(APPLAUSE)
I might also say thanks to the attorney general and to you
chief. We're not only ahead of schedule, we're also under
budget.
So, if you guys will keep us under budget, we may go over
100,00 police.
But as the attorney general has said, and as all of you know,
there is still some neighborhoods in America and too many of
them where crime hasn't receded far enough or fast enough.
Congressman Cummings told me this morning that he lives in one
of those neighborhoods, and we need to do more.
We have to focus our resources on high crime, high need
neighborhoods to bring the benefits of community policing to
every community. And in the difficult areas, that means we have
to reach a critical mass of police officers and community
policing before it can make the necessary difference.
So, I am pleased to say today that the Department of Justice
will fully fund over 700 new community police officers who will
be on the beat specifically in troubled areas -- 150 in Chicago
fighting drug related crimes; 100 in Baltimore to fight drugs
and violent crimes; 170 in Miami to take back the streets in
neighborhood along the Miami River.
Hartford will put their officers to work to fight a
new surge of violent gang activity.
Now, as we extend the reach of community policing in our
cities, we in Washington have a responsibility to continue to
advance this strategy that has brought success. We have more to
do to protect our children, more to do to fight juvenile crime,
more to do to keep our kids and our schools free and safe from
guns and from drugs.
The same community policing techniques that are helping to
make our streets safe again are the best way to help keep our
schools safe.
In March, we began to make funds available to achieve this
objective and we should do more.
We have to do more and more to push back the frontiers of
violence. The recent wave of shootings in our schools reminds
us again that more police, more prosecutors, tougher laws, more
vigilant neighborhoods, and more positive opportunities for our
kids to stay out of trouble in the first place -- all of those
things have to be done by those of us in authority.
But the parents, the teachers, the community leaders -- all
of them have to do more, too, to teach our children right from
wrong, to teach them to turn away from violence, to identify
troubled children before they do something irrevocably
destructive.
We have to do more to show our children by the power of
example and the power of outreach that we care about each and
every one of them.
Finally, let me say that I want to say what has been said by
others, what the attorney general said. You're doing a good job
and the rest of us are grateful. We can say -- Well, crime has
dropped 27 percent or it's the lowest in 25 years. Those are
statistical abstractions.
There are children who are playing free today because of what
you have done.
There are people who are alive today because of what you have
done. There are businesses functioning in neighborhoods today
that would be closed if it hadn't been for what you have done.
You have given our people a deeper freedom. And as we stand
on the brink of a new century, we should all be very, very
grateful.
Thank you very much.
(APPLAUSE)
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